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U.S.-Canada Talks Collapse, Canada to Impose Counter-Tariffs September 8; 90,000 Urged to Evacuate as Crews Battle Wildfire Near Reno, Nevada; Mother Taken into ICE Custody at Hospital after Car Crash; Before the White House, Natalie Harp Spent January 6 Cheering Trump On. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 24, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Finally, World Cup darling Erling Haaland has spent years terrorizing defenders, now he's traumatizing hairdressers. The Manchester City star shocked fans by chopping off those famous flowing blonde locks ahead of the City's game against Bournemouth. Haaland documented the transformation for his YouTube channel, including reactions from his former manager Pep Guardiola and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You lost a bet or what? Oh my God, he blocked me and erased my number.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're lucky you have her, I would love to have you too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Oh my goodness, we have this guy who had three dozen goals last season and now he has zero ponytails. Will he be the modern day Samson? We shall see.

He started off his Premier League season without scoring a goal, first time that had happened in the last four seasons. So, wait and see -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I mean maybe he needs the hair to score. I will also say maybe he shouldn't be showing naked FaceTimes with Pep Guardiola, his former manager there. We will see.

Coy Wire r, thank you very much for that. A brand new hour of CNE NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Trade talks with Canada have collapsed. Canada is now promising dollar for dollar retaliation after the U.S. levied 50 percent tariffs on 20 billion worth of Canadian goods. What this renewed economic war means to your personal economy. And breaking news in Nevada, a raging wildfire fueled by intense winds is forcing tens of thousands of residents there to flee their homes. What authorities say caused this fire.

And this is a tug of war, but it's to save a traditional castle. Watch as human power helps move a historic castle weighing in at 400 tons.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's get to it. This morning the White House is preparing to tighten the screws on both adversary and ally. First adversary, Iran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected today to lay out the details of a sanctions plan to end all sanctions plans, apparently, after he wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times this: "Now we are entering the endgame," on Iran. "At dawn begins an economic D-Day, the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary."

It's part of the U.S. strategy shift that we've seen nearly now, six months into the war, no more strikes for now. Instead, trying to get Iran to the table through economic pressure. At the very same time, the White House is also taking on Canada.

Trade talks collapsed, as Sara was saying, with Canada over the weekend. And a new 50 percent U.S. tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods is now in effect. And Canada's leader calls this war with the United States and is vowing to retaliate dollar for dollar with tariffs beginning September 8th.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. A lot of conversations that need to be had. Where what are you picking up?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I'm going to start with Canada, because, of course, a lot of questions about the United States now getting into a new trade war with its northern neighbor. As you mentioned, Kate, the U.S. announced that it would be imposing 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods after weeks of conversations and negotiations between these two countries fell apart and they failed to make a deal. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is now saying that Canada is going to retaliate dollar for dollar on every tariff that the U.S. is imposing.

I do want to read you a little bit of what Carney had said on Saturday after this deal had collapsed. He said in recent days, the U.S. proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair and undermine the net benefits for Canada. He went on to say that in short, the U.S. asked too much and offered too little. We also heard the president weigh in. This was early Sunday morning after a lot of the news came out about the new tariffs that were going to be exchanged. He put it this way.

Trump posted on True Social, quote, "Canada wants the benefits of being a state without being one." He also claimed that Canada for years had charged American farmers, quote, massive amounts of tariffs. He said no more.

Now, look, we know that the relationship between the U.S. and Canada has really been in a fragile state under the Trump administration. And, you know, him and Carney have exchanged barbs many times in recent months. But this takes it to a new level.

And there's a lot of questions as well about the ripple effects of this. We know tariffs tend to seep into the economy in a negative way. And this is already a key vulnerability for the president.

[08:05:00]

There's also questions, though, of we've seen the president, you know, move forward with these kind of tariff wars in the past, only to ultimately walk away from the brink. I think what's different here is that Carney is directly challenging President Trump with these retaliatory dollar for dollar tariffs.

I want you to listen, though, to what we heard from Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative on it this weekend, essentially arguing that there are no plans for future talks at this time. Listen.

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JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We don't have new talks planned with the Canadians. We're moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation. Remember, as President Trump has introduced a trade policy to reshore American production and protect American jobs, two countries have retaliated against the United States, the People's Republic of China and Canada.

They've always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal. But they didn't want that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, as you mentioned, Kate, to put this into context, this timing of this new trade war with the United States, northern neighbor does come as there's another economic front that we're seeing with Iran and new pressures of the Trump administration trying to cut off economic ties to Iran as a new phase of this war. We'll be hearing from Scott Bessent and the Treasury secretary on this later today. But a lot of questions about what this is going to mean for the U.S. economy at a time when many people are worried about their wallets and their checkbooks -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Alayna Treene at the White House for us. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Happening now. Evacuation orders for 90,000 people as fire crews face increasingly challenging conditions in Nevada.

Wildfires ignited there over the weekend and have now burned some 15,000 acres. Let's get right to seeing as Josh Campbell on the ground in Reno this morning. Josh, what do you see? JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, these harrowing images really tell this story of this erratic fire activity where we are near Reno yesterday. Flames could be seeing seen rapidly advancing down a hillside towards residential areas. This is all really a continuation of a destructive fire season that we have seen across the southwest that has scorched thousands and thousands of acres has resulted in the evacuations of entire towns.

This latest fire here, the so-called Hawk Fire. So far, we're looking at 15,000 acres that have been burned. Zero containment right now as fire crews, local, state and federal continue to try to attack this fire, both from the ground as well as the air.

There have been a number of aerial assets coming in and cooling from neighboring California to try to attack this fire. Fixed wing aircraft, helicopters as well. The governor here in Nevada has declared a state of emergency for Washoe County, which includes parts of Reno as well as parts of Lake Tahoe.

The Nevada National Guard has also now been activated. Now, in addition to all those resources, this is obviously a human story. The human toll here is the focus.

Take a listen here to one resident who was impacted.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we when we came through, it looked like a movie scene. Like you don't expect to see something like that in real life. And then like we looked over the overpass, and we could see like the top of the flames and then the smoke over overhead or whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, so far, 90,000 people, 90,000 people have been urged to evacuate their homes. That has included at least two medical centers that have had to evacuate patients at those facilities. And, you know, there have been some injuries.

We're talking about six injuries so far. That includes three of the first responders, as well as three residents. And, of course, as the containment is efforted right now, there's always a big question about how this actually started.

Authorities say that they believe that this Hawk fire was human caused. There's no indication right now that it was intentional. But I could tell you after covering so many of these fires, that's always a big question that residents have.

How did this actually start? The focus right now, obviously, on saving property, saving lives. Again, this Herculean effort continues to try to keep this fire from harming more people and more property.

BERMAN: Zero percent contained. Josh Campbell for us in Reno this morning. Josh, thanks so much -- Sara. SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John. Ahead, dramatic video of mother taken into ICE custody at the hospital after she and her daughter were involved in a crash. What we're learning about this case.

And AI now moving into the religious realm. Why a pastor is creating an AI version of himself for his flock to follow.

And a family hike on Mount Fuji takes a turn when the father leaves his tired seven year old behind and continues the hike. What authorities decided to do in this case, those stories and more ahead.

[08:10:00]

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SIDNER: New this morning. Dramatic new video showing an Ecuadorian mother being taken into custody by sheriff's deputies at a Florida hospital. After she and her daughter were involved in a crash.

Officials allege the woman and her 19-year-old daughter were living in the United States illegally. And ICE had issued an immigration hold for both women. Let's get right to CNN's Rafael Romo.

What are you learning this morning?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi Sara, good morning. What we know is that both the mother and her daughter, who are both Ecuadorian nationals, were taken to HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital in Kissimmee, with neck and other injuries following a car crash -- according to family members.

[08:15:00]

Later while they were being treated at the hospital for their injuries, a family member who was with them recorded a cell phone video, showing the moment of their detention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIA CALERO, SISTER TO MOTHER DETAINED (through translated text): Why are you treating her like this, for God's sake, what has she done?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Sara, the woman heard yelling in the video is Gia Calero who is a sister to the mother and therefore the younger woman's aunt. The video she recorded shows Polk County Florida Sheriff's deputies handcuffing the mother while her daughter lies on a hospital bed wearing a hospital gown crying hysterically while trying to hold on to her mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please! Please, I beg you! Please!

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMO: The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the mother and her 19- year-old daughter were taken into custody because they were allegedly living in the United States illegally and ICE issued detainers for both women. But according to a post on GoFundMe written by family members, Grace Calero Cabanilla, the mother, has a pending asylum case and a work permit. While her 19-year-old daughter, Giulianna Carriel Calero, has a visa valid through 2030. The GoFundMe page has been verified by CNN as belonging to the family, but CNN cannot independently verify the claims made in it.

Gia Calero, the woman who recorded the video, Sara, says she personally witnessed her niece Giulianna become so distressed after seeing her mother taken away that the 19-year-old had a seizure. She added that the young woman takes prescription medication for anxiety and depression and was not allowed to take the medication with her when she left the hospital. She said Giulianna was given an IV to calm her down.

The Department of Homeland Security told CNN that both women entered the U.S. legally but allegedly overstayed their periods of legal admission and the Polk County Sheriff's Office told CNN that the women were detained after they were discharged from care -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Rafael Romo, hard to watch video there. Thank you so much for your reporting -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So what Natalie Harp's Twitter history and deleted tweets reveal about her devotion to President Trump long before even working for him.

Plus, his long blonde locks gone. Norway's Erling Haaland reveals a new haircut and the hilarious reactions to it.

[08:20:00]

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BOLDUAN: New this morning, a CNN review has found that years before Natalie Hart became a key White House aide to President Trump, she flooded her Twitter feed with posts demonstrating extraordinary devotion to him, like on January 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol riot. CNN's Isabelle Chapman and Andrew Kaczynski, they did a deep review of Hart's now-deleted tweets to kind of give us a new window into this person that's had so much focus on her. Isabel is here now.

Tell me more of what you found.

ISABELLE CHAPMAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, like you said, there's been really intense focus on Natalie Harp in the past few weeks. Her consistent proximity to the president and her loyalty has stood out, even among Trump's most devoted inner circle. We wanted to get a sense of how far back this devotion to Trump extended, and so we took a look at a now-suspended Twitter feed that goes back years.

What was particularly interesting was a series of posts related to the events of January 6, 2021, the day Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol while Congress worked to certify Joe Biden was the winner of the 2020 presidential election. More than 150 tweets from that day have since been deleted. It's unclear if X or Harp deleted these posts.

For example, this tweet where Harp quotes the president saying, "The election was stolen." These posts offered a public display of fealty. At the time, Harp was working as a conservative news anchor, but she continuously praised those trying to keep Trump in office and repeatedly cast him in heroic terms.

You can take a look here. She praised the courage of Trump supporters and urged Congress to take action, saying, today we stop the steal. She quoted Rudy Giuliani's call, let's have trial by combat.

Lawyers for Giuliani later said his call was hyperbolic and not a call for violence. In another, as the president started speaking near the White House, she wrote, "Fight for Trump," a dozen times in a single post. She also specifically praised the wisdom and courage of lawmakers who had supported challenges of the election results, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling them patriots.

BOLDUAN: So that's January 6th. Beyond January 6th, what did you find in this history?

CHAPMAN: Harp had long been tweeting about Trump. We found posts dating back to 2016 praising him. We also found that on the day of his impeachment, she had tweeted Bible verses in reference to him.

In one, she tweeted at him saying, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. And in another, she wrote, "Vindicate @realDonaldTrump, my God, and plead his cause against an unfaithful nation." Now, all of this fits a pattern that has continued since she started working for the president several years ago, like we saw earlier, or last week rather, the letters from Harp to Trump that were published by the Daily Beast, in which she wrote to the president about her devotion for him.

CNN didn't independently confirm the letters, but the White House did defend them, telling CNN she is, quote, one of the most loyal and hardworking aides of the president.

[08:25:00]

BOLDUAN: What is the White House saying about this?

CHAPMAN: Neither Harp nor the White House replied to our questions about this story, but the president's team has been very vocal in their defense of Harp over the past few weeks.

BOLDUAN: They absolutely have. It's good to see you. Thank you so much for coming in.

CHAPMAN: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Sara. SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate. The U.S. expected to launch new sanctions against Iran as early as today. The Treasury Secretary warning an economic D-Day is on the horizon.

And evacuation orders issued for thousands of people. As raging wildfire continues to spread in Nevada this morning, that blaze is zero percent contained, and the battle may get even harder. We'll talk with an official on the ground.

Those stories and more ahead.

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